'We can't turn back now,' Higgs says, as he calls election
P.C., Liberal leaders launch campaigns ahead of Oct. 21 vote
New Brunswickers will head to the polls on Oct. 21 to decide whether to give the Progressive Conservatives under Blaine Higgs another four-year term in government.
Higgs visited Government House on Thursday morning and spent a half hour with Lt.-Gov. Brenda Murphy, who signed the writs for a provincial election.
He portrayed the campaign as a choice between his sound fiscal management — including six straight years of budget surpluses — and a potential Liberal-Green "coalition" that might undo that progress.
"My entire foray in politics," he said, acknowledging he hadn't planned to stay in office this long, "is about we can't turn back now."
Higgs launched the campaign on the same day the Angus Reid Institute released a survey showing him with the lowest approval rating, 30 per cent, of any premier in Canada.
"If people say 'you're done,' I'm done," Higgs told reporters.
"It's because of that determination, that desire for a bigger, better, brighter future for our next generation — that's what keeps us going."
The PC leader took office in 2018 with a minority government and won a majority two years later.
A victory on Oct. 21 would make him the first premier to win a third term since Liberal Frank McKenna in 1995.
He's arguing that years of balanced budgets have freed up money for health care and other services, that would otherwise have needed to be spent on debt interest.
Liberal Leader Susan Holt launched her campaign in Bathurst, where she has served as an MLA since winning a byelection there last year.
She's running in Fredericton South-Silverwood this time.
At a stop in Miramichi, Holt countered Higgs's recent promise to reduce the provincial sales tax by two points by pledging to remove the tax from N.B. Power bills as soon as her government takes office.
That would save the average household $192 per year, Holt said.
"Unlike the Higgs tax cut, this is a commitment that will provide affordability relief that New Brunswickers need right now," she said.
Holt said the earliest the change could take effect would be April 1, 2025, because the province must give the federal government advance notice.
She would give Ottawa that notice immediately upon taking office, she said.
At Government House, Higgs warned voters that a Holt government could lurch to the left if it lacks a majority in the legislature and needs to rely on the Green Party for support.
He said that would leave New Brunswick with a government similar to the unpopular federal Liberal government of Justin Trudeau, which was propped up by the NDP under Jagmeet Singh until recently.
"We cannot let Susan Holt and [Green Leader] David Coon do to New Brunswick what Trudeau and Singh have done to Canada," Higgs said.
Coon told reporters last week his party was preparing a list of conditions it would put to the Liberals if they need Green support in the legislature.
"It's important to prepare for any possibility," he said, at the Green campaign launch on Wednesday. "We have a long list now, from some brainstorming.
"It's called our platform," added Green candidate Kevin Arseneau, an MLA since 2018.
Five other registered parties are contesting the Oct. 21 election, including the NDP, which last elected an MLA in 2003, and the People's Alliance, which won two seats four years ago.
Advance polls will be open on Oct. 12 and 15.
Elections New Brunswick released a statement reminding voters they can vote at the returning office in their riding at any time.
Ballots won't be available until after the candidate registration deadline on Oct. 1 but people can vote by write-in ballot before then.
In the statement, chief electoral officer Kim Poffenroth reminded voters that a newly redrawn electoral map is in effect and urged people to check which of the 49 new ridings they live in.
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